Tag: Data

What Does the Future of EdTech Look Like?

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The end of the year is ideal for reflecting on the year passed and looking towards the future. Accordingly, during December, I have dedicated some time to focus on the key trends I expect to be the future of EdTech in 2021.

It is so easy to underestimate the depth and breadth of the EdTech industry and nigh on impossible to visualize the over $5 trillion ecosystems that it forms a part of.

I exist in the realm of K12 digital and 21st-century skills education with an increasing amount of time spent tackling challenges around career-focused learning for students aged 16-24. Sitting on the boards and advisory groups of schools, education foundations, and nonprofits, I am fortunate to experience a broad spectrum of education from several different perspectives throughout each year.

EdTech Investment

EdTech took a front-row seat in the global business landscape in 2020, with investors making significant bets on established and larger companies in growth investment rounds. However, I feel that venture capital investors can struggle to balance early-stage educational investment with the return demands of their investment models. Driven by a lack of specialization in specific domains of education, this investment, even with an overall sector-based generalization, is highly complex. They also lack confidence in the strength of their networks to influence growth within a huge institutional addressable market and a consumer segment that can suffer from poor unit economics. 

That said, several education investors with precise specializations are now establishing early-stage funds, presenting a solid opportunity for high-quality investment in early revenue stage companies. Well-tested and validated through the pandemic, these companies will be more robust than usual for their stage and likely undervalued. 

In 2021, while it will still be a journey back towards average, schools will begin to operate with more established processes and protocols, providing more stability for smaller but growing EdTech companies to gain a foothold and deliver initial results. With this in mind, I believe investors will deploy a continued investment growth to a broader range of companies across the future of the EdTech industry in the coming year. 

Online Learning

Educators already anticipated online learning to be an area of significant growth in 2020. Accelerated by COVID-19, online learning has permeated traditional schools to a greater extent than previously foreseen. As a result, a good standard of online delivery of formal education was achieved, and its status and perception in the eyes of both educators and parents have improved. In 2021, schools will determine which aspects of learning were enhanced by online learning and which remain best delivered in person. This will drive growth in the future of EdTech through the definition and practice of hybrid educational models and the technology and training that supports them.

Growth in Pedagogical Technology

Many approaches to online learning have focused on implementing video conferencing tools and achieving full adoption of learning management systems (LMS) by faculties. While an initial step in the right direction, this combination of administrative and communication technology does not provide a seamless transition between offline and online learning or the ability for the same understanding to be delivered in the same amount of time. 

Elementary school educators have struggled to deliver the full spectrum of learning online – a challenge that remains unresolved and not likely to be solved any time soon – however, middle and high school learning has continued online with less disruption. Overall, time-constrained learning has focused on tested topics and exam preparation, resulting in a significant rollback in enrichment and elective education, arguably more relevant to students’ futures in the real world than much of traditionally tested learning. 

I believe educators will begin to adopt and seek pedagogical technology tools in 2021 that focus on content creation and engagement, real-time student learning data, and feedback to empower best practices and bridge the gap for effective teaching between LMS and communication tools.

LMS Consolidation and Interoperability

With technology tools remaining at the heart of quality teaching and learning experiences, streamlining their usage and allowing educators to move quickly between systems will become critical. It will also mean a growing demand for and a definition of the requirements for interoperability. Currently, the fragmentation of the LMS market and unpredictability of application programming interfaces (APIs) is a barrier to broader and more consistent standards for interoperability. I believe this will begin to be resolved as the LMS market starts to consolidate towards the latter part of 2021.

Data and Privacy

Against a backdrop of increasing regulation and legal scrutiny, growth in pedagogical technologies and interoperability will lead to more real-time educational data being produced about student learning in 2021 than ever before. EdTech companies will need to be acutely aware of data privacy, protection, and storage requirements at both the consumer and institutional customer levels. In addition, global companies will need to consider effective data regions within their technology infrastructures and understand the security and architectural implications of scaling their technology, particularly where accurate time data is involved. 

Career-focused Learning and Assessment

As many developed nations continue with employment stimulus packages, the economic repercussions of COVID-19 have yet to be fully felt around the world. Going into 2021, however, these effects will become more significant, and unemployment levels will likely increase to levels similar to the post-war era of the mid-20th century. This will accelerate career-focused learning, re-skilling, and reduce university application and enrollment. As a result, people focus on faster and cheaper means of validating skills and experience that give them employment in developing, likely technology-driven industries. For the future of EdTech, this will lead to growth in opportunities for curriculum creators, new assessment providers, and credentialing organizations that have strong partnerships with the industry. 

At this point, you might be wondering why I have not mentioned artificial intelligence in the trends that I am predicting. I do believe that meaningful AI implementations in education will take place, just not in 2021. We are still witnessing the early phase of developing validated solutions for real-time data and analytics in machine learning. The longitudinal validation of AI in education and complexities of algorithmic bias will make progress slow, while other EdTech developments will have more impactful and verifiable immediate results.

Although it has been said that 2020 was when the impact of EdTech on education was felt, I would say that the door has only been cracked open. Instead, it has been a year of learning and discovery in preparation for a truly significant level of adoption at a later date. 

2021 will be a year when the disruption of 2020 becomes the new normal, and it is against this backdrop that the future of EdTech will indeed be defined.

Can Technologist and Educator Agree on Digital Terms?

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For non-technical people, the digital terms coding, computing, and programming are synonymous. Therefore the issue is irrelevant. However, each sector has its own collection of terms with distinct meanings and contexts. This is especially true when discussing technology, which is always evolving. For instance, “spam” isn’t edible, “bugs” are not insects, and an “Easter Egg” is not just used at Easter.

The meanings of coding and programming differ depending on who you ask and the industry you work in, leading to a state of confusion.  

As the Hour of Code week approaches, we have invited our VP of Education, Mark Barnett, and our CTO, Nickey Khemchandani, to reflect on the significance of digital terms, what counts in coding education, and how educators and technologists may benefit from collaboration.


What’s the difference between coding and programming in digital terms?

Nickey Khem: Coding is the translation of Code from one language to another. Coding doesn’t deal with complicated issues. Programming, on the other hand, is the act of producing code using algorithms and thorough analysis.

For example, Coding languages such as HTML and CSS focus on structure and designing an interface. As a programming language, JavaScript is used to develop functionality.

Mark Barnett: The difficulty with using these digital terms interchangeably is that they generalize roles that need diverse skill sets.

Does the misuse of digital terminology create a problem?

Which digital terms have had the most impact in the education technology industry?

We commonly use a computational thinking cornerstone called “abstraction” at BSD Education. This means you focus only on the important details while ignoring irrelevant information. 

In our project, “The People Who Inspire Me,” we guide students through the process of creating a single webpage. Students highlight three people who inspire them, but we break each step down into objectives. We also assist with HTML and CSS syntax. It allows students to focus on each component until the project is complete.

What needs to change in the educational system today?

NK: The digital curriculum taught in schools must be updated to be relevant. Students today live in a completely different world than in the 1980s and 1990s. More than ever, curricula should contain practical, real-world examples. In communication, for example, the use of social media must be incorporated. However, in some educational systems, the focus is mainly on historical techniques. 

MB: As Nickey said, curriculum relevance is an important component of change that must be addressed. With tech education, it’s best to teach children through projects. Project-based learning allows them to create something useful or functional rather than learning through textbooks or tutorials. For example, your first webpage or a virtual reality environment with sophisticated systems are both projects at BSD.

Should coding be for everyone?

MB: One amazing thing that Hour of Code has done is expose children all across the world to programming, even if just for one hour. Coding, like reading and writing, opens you new ways to share your knowledge, ideas, and voice with the world.

NK: Coding can be a form of creative expression, but it can also lead towards understanding new ways to break down problems into smaller steps and solve unique challenges. While we certainly don’t expect every child to become professional technologists, we want children to have some conceptual understanding of how the technologies that they use every day, work. 

What can educators and technologists learn from each other by collaborating?

MB: As a teacher, I believe my role is to assist teachers and students comprehend technology in manageable portions. To do this effectively, I need to understand technology well enough to foresee difficulties. Consulting experts is a great way to learn more about learning technology. At BSD, I regularly talk with Nickey, our CTO, to better understand technological concepts. We discuss big ideas, technical details, and our passion for sharing knowledge.

NK: My role is often to bring the latest and complex technology into the hands of individuals and in BSD’s case, teachers and students. This is, however, easier said than done as a lot of technology requires complex predefined understanding, which is not accessible to someone that well versed in technology to start with. 

This is where I really think the value of having educators on the team, such as our VP of Education, Mark helps.

As a result of our collaboration, we are able to incorporate the most up-to-date educational pedagogies and cutting-edge technology into our curriculum and platform. As a technologist, I have greatly benefited from educators’ ability to better explain digital terms, allowing us to reach more customers.

Conversely, technologists are always on the pulse of the latest happenings in several businesses. Educators benefit from shared research and development, from curriculum evolution to digital tools that increase student engagement.

~~

Whether you are new to coding or are a seasoned professional, we invite you to try a few of our coding projects during the Hour of Code. Mark and the Education Team at BSD developed 6 unique projects that guide students through programming with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to complete projects in a series called “Code is: Your Voice,” where students are invited to use code as a way to share what’s most important to them. So check them out and let us know what you think. 

Ensuring Your Students’ Data Privacy in Online Classrooms

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A global pandemic has forced schools to adopt technology to power classrooms and teach students. But, unfortunately, the data privacy supplied via online learning tools is ignored to solve these problems.

Many countries have laws designed specifically to protect the data privacy of students. As an example, in the United States, there is The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which is a federal privacy law that gives parents certain protections to education records, such as report cards, transcript of records, family information, as well as class schedules. However, parents should be aware that non-public primary and secondary schools are not covered by FERPA.

Here are some privacy insights and ideas to consider in our new ‘normal’ to secure our students’ protection and security.

Verify that your children’s online classroom tools meet your local privacy rules.

Something else for parents and educators to consider is the type of learning resources used in online classrooms. Yes, Many easy-to-use platforms are available for free to all educational institutions, but nothing is truly free. In this case, free access also means free access to collect and disseminate information or data. You might remember it wasn’t that long ago when random strangers started jumping into online classrooms. 

Always check data privacy policies before introducing a new tool/website/platform at school if they have access to Personally identifiable information (PII).  

Normally, schools typically rely on IT administrators or technology integration professionals to help secure sensitive data. In online classrooms, students (and teachers) log in remotely, with little to no security control. Adding to this complexity, the devices used are also personal, making any group security near impossible.

Ensure that students’ personal data is not susceptible to unauthorized use. Teachers, administrators, and parents must personally protect all personal devices.

Personal devices connected to school systems or platforms risk exposing student data. Apply strict BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) regulations that require security restrictions on devices before granting them access to any protected environment.

Given all of that, it’s important to note that collecting data is not a negative thing. Besides counting students and recording grades, data collecting helps schools improve their curricula and educational systems. Data will continue to be important in advancing education in areas like personalized learning. There is no requirement to maintain data privacy linked to students or teachers.

For example, When using BSD Online, users may rest assured that their data remains unidentifiable. We only collect private information that our customers willingly give us, such as name, email address, and school affiliation. Other data collected is pooled to improve our services but is not shared outside BSD unless required by law. Unfortunately, this is not the standard for many online companies and users are unaware of how their data is collected and shared. As we go more digital with classrooms and schools, data privacy will be critical to protecting all the individuals in the education system.  

When it comes to your children or student’s education, when everyone has rushed to virtual learning, it is crucial to step back and ask questions about the educational tool they’re using. Is your data anonymous? Is this “free” program sharing my data? 

Education is on the cusp of incredible innovation with technology and how students can learn and engage with the material. With new tools, teachers can be even more creative, and for the most part, this is an exciting time for the future of education. But as we adopt technologies into our classrooms and embrace innovation, we also need to take a moment to consider how these tools affect the safety and data privacy of everyone involved but especially our students. 

Will Artificial Intelligence Substitute Teachers?

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As a part-time lecturer at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and my consulting work at Blu Artificial Intelligence, I’m often asked how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact education in the future. We tend to see popular media pushing the narrative that AI will take over teaching. I take the opposing view. AI will not replace teachers. If anything, artificial intelligence will become a new tool in a teacher’s toolbox. AI will free teachers from administrative burdens, give them insights on student development, and let them focus on what they do best – helping students grow.

The truth is that today we are still quite far away from having robots and artificial intelligence surpassing human beings. However, artificial intelligence does tend to perform very well at repetitive, structured, and well-defined tasks. Hence the belief that AI will take away our jobs tomorrow, in my view, is quite far-fetched. If anything, we should think about task automation rather than job automation. Most jobs are made up of specific tasks, which may or may not be easily automatable. Therefore, we can each look at our job, consider the tasks & skillsets that are hard to automate, and then focus on those areas for professional development.

Let us take teaching as an example. With the recent restrictions from COVID-19, a lot of the classes I teach have moved entirely online. I started teaching in 2018, so I did the class in person the year before. When I compare online and in-person, I find that student interaction is much easier to facilitate in-person. There’s very little “please unmute your mic,” or “can you repeat, you’re cutting out,” and my personal favorite, “can you HEAR me?” with the entire class responding, “yes, we can.” It is also easier to get feedback, both verbal and non-verbal, from students. Are they laughing with you or at you? Given my jokes, perhaps I should leave this question unanswered for myself.

This confirmed to me that human interaction is an integral part of education. Furthermore, when I asked students for feedback on the class, almost all preferred an in-person class. This also jives with my views on tasks that are hard to automate. Generally, anything requiring human interaction is a challenge for artificial intelligence because people react differently to the same stimulus. For example, the fact that A+B does not always equal C is a problem for AI. Artificial intelligence has started to address this with larger data sets and training, but it is not easy.

The big question then is what does this mean for teachers? First, I believe artificial intelligence will augment our ability to be productive. This means that teachers will work with AI tools to create better student experiences. For example, artificial intelligence can take over structured and repetitive administrative tasks. Grading is a prime example, and it brings back some memories for me. When I was little, my mom, who has been a teacher most of her career, used to get me to help her mark her students’ multiple-choice tests. Then, after bribing me with my favorite candy, I would happily read off “A, C, D, E, B
” into the wee hours of the night.

Today, we have Scantron sheets for multiple-choice grading. Soon, with an area of artificial intelligence called Natural Language Processing (NLP), AI tools will be able to ‘read’ free form text responses and do the grading. For example, I can testify that student handwriting standards have dropped, but you can address this if we give the AI enough data (handwriting samples). Students could also type their responses, which negates the handwriting problem. On top of this, machine learning tools can construct ‘student profiles’ from grades to track their progression and identify development areas.

I know that many teachers, whether they admit it or not, are reluctant to work with artificial intelligence, which is understandable. The AI isn’t perfect and will make mistakes. To expect otherwise is setting ourselves, and AI, up for failure. However, the potential to free up teachers to do what they do best is something that I feel needs to be explored.

If you’re scared about being substituted by artificial intelligence, please take solace from students today who say they can’t wait to get back to the classroom. They need you. With that in mind, all I ask is that you stay open to AI augmentation and its potential to help you and your students.

If you found this interesting and would like to discuss it further, please reach out to me at kevin@blu.ltd.

Introducing Artificial Intelligence in the Classroom

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Growing up when sci-fi ruled the world with fictional narratives of intergalactic space travel, robots, and Artificial Intelligence; my 12 year old self would be disappointed that we can’t be served breakfast by AI robots in a biodome on Mars by now. While science hasn’t quite delivered those sci-fi dreams, the emergence of AI has definitely arrived and left us wondering, “what now?”  Artificial Intelligence is a booming field of study with lots of controversy and confusion; especially for educators and schools. Questions that we have heard from schools and educators are:

  • Should we even teach AI?
  • How do we get started with AI?
  • How can we install JavaScript libraries for neural networks (like ML5)?
  • How can we ensure security and privacy with AI deployments?

As you can tell from the questions, there are varying groups from users that know quite a bit about AI, to those that are just interested in learning more. Let’s break it down in an easy-to-understand way and answer these questions so you can make informed choices about implementing AI for your students and schools.

AI is here, whether we like it or not. Our philosophy at BSD Education is to empower learners with the skills and knowledge to make AI technology solutions that also respect users by reflecting on empathy and ethical concerns of AI development. We do this by providing students with real AI software to work with in guided projects that teach students how to, for example: install JavaScript libraries (like ML5) for Natural Language Processing or how to set up an AI system that can make predictive sounds with a drum machine. Lessons that we teach are coupled with classroom activities on topics about the critical issues of bias in AI algorithms, security, privacy, current research in the field of AI and more. 

We strongly feel that adding the ethical implications and empathy of understanding how AI is being used is vital to prepare students for the not-so-distant future of advanced AI robots and intergalactic space travel. This is a message that we purposefully weave into our curriculum because we value the teaching of empathy as a critical skill needed to prepare conscious global citizens who will be charged with building the future while using technologies like AI.

Don’t know where to start with AI at your school? That’s okay, it’s a complex subject that requires careful consideration and understanding. To answer the first question “should we even teach AI?”, I think that students should be taught about AI, and then, when ready, how to use AI and how to program using AI tools.

If you are looking for a great intro to AI and the ethics of AI, try this free and open-source resource from MIT that teaches middle school students about algorithms and how sites like YouTube, Spotify and Netflix use those algorithms to suggest new content to users. This could be a great starting point for a discussion about AI in your classrooms that can be easily implemented and taught.

If you want to dig deeper into the ethics of AI and current research on bias in algorithms, check out the work of the Algorithmic Justice League and start by watching this video about racial bias in AI facial recognition. It is important for students to understand the harmful side effects of some AI software that are currently in use.

Starting conversations with students about the social implications of AI leads to a better understanding of the subject and allows room for critical conversations about the future of technologies like AI.  By inviting students to explore ethical concerns and dilemmas, we are opening the door for conversations to be about humanity just as much as it is about the technology.

So whether you are just dipping your toes in the water with AI or you’re ready to start a project with AI libraries and pre-trained neural networks, it is best to approach the issue by painting the full picture of the technology and the social implications of AI by exploring these topics with fellow educators and students. Want to learn more and join the conversation? Join the #AIEthics chat on Twitter and catch up with what you have missed so far, here. 

If you are interested in learning more about our AI curriculum offerings from BSD Education, please reach out to us here or reach out to me at mb@bsd.education.

It’s Time for Data – And Time To Make Time for Data

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Data has been a core part of education for years. We all remember being graded at school, both formatively as well as summatively. Strong observational practice, or constructivist methods, by teachers in classrooms has also been an effective way to gather data. This human-led combination has historically informed about how students are progressing with work, socializing and communicating with their classmates, or how they respond to struggling – perhaps crossing the line from persistence and concentration, to frustration and disengagement.

An increased introduction of technology into classrooms brings with it artificial intelligence, real time visible information and a multitude of options to introduce more personalized student learning experiences. However, how do we ensure that what is being measured is relevant and will produce meaningful results?

In an article about the approach taken by Broken Arrow Public Schools in the US, it illustrates how their school sites take a meaningful approach to data which considers the overall stories being told by the data in each of their schools. They approached developing their solution through a Professional Learning Community process and eventually made time, through embedding it in the schools’ schedules, for collaboration time to reinforce the process. The point carried through strongly that, data being available is one thing, however this will not return value unless teachers are given the time to analyze, collaborate and act upon it.

Another article about how data can inform teaching made a great point about the wealth of information that is available from student files and the insight that can be drawn from them, however brought up the difficulty in finding the time to view them.

The technology tools on offer today impact not just the fabric of the school, such as learning management systems, but also the hands on learning of students, such as online learning platforms. All of these platforms produce data and it is in the amalgamation of all of this data that the benefits will be found, rather than in a single tool in isolation.

Understanding the data from environmental conditions, attendance, learning data and results; what happens when and by whom across a range of activities; can identify not only opportunities to enhance teaching practice, but also duplication of effort. Subsequent automation or use of artificial intelligence, made effective from the initial understanding of the data involved, might improve e.g. communication and time availability.

On BSD Online, teachers can access real time data about work that their students are currently doing, including when they do it – at school or at home, where they are up to, and what parts of the work they most frequently make errors on. The latter feeds a machine learning algorithm to improve personalized in-platform suggestions and tips given to students as they learn.

We have seen teachers become able to better understand how different types of content are paced down to individual student levels for personalization, as well as understand the interdisciplinary performance of students and preferences of the overall student body. In some schools, preference data has been compared to attendance data to identify strategies to increase engagement in traditional subjects. Because data is available in real time and accessible anywhere, it becomes more easy and flexible for teachers to connect in person or virtually to discuss their findings.

Data is available from more sources than ever before. A trend only set to continue growing. To convert the insight from data analysis and interpretation into actionable and valuable initiatives, data must be considered from all aspects of school life and time must be made to consider the story that data is telling as a collaborative community. In the end though, the opportunity is better than ever to take back time and really understand how student life is performing at your school.

Breaking the Disconnection in Computer Science Education

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In a recent survey of 540 K-12 teachers conducted by YouGov for Microsoft, 88% of teachers said they agree computer science is critical to ensuring success in the workplace. In addition, 83% said they believe coding can build students’ creativity. Thus, teachers recognize the importance and benefits of technology education.

However, one-fifth of teachers said their students aren’t actually taught any computer science. These teachers mention a lack of resources, curriculum, and testing as explanations for this. To give students digital skills to prepare for the future, instructors and society believe it is vital. However, what actually happens in schools is quite different.

The second issue is that teachers feel underqualified to prepare children for a digital future. Most teachers (88%) value computer science, while 30 percent are underqualified or overloaded—insufficient support and training for teachers to confidently integrate technology into their classes.

Interestingly, the same kind of feedback led to our offering at BSD Education. Many teachers recognize the importance of technology education for students’ future success but struggle to deliver it effectively. We researched with schools and students from diverse socio-economic, cultural, and intellectual backgrounds to discover why. While schools want to use technology more, there are three major obstacles to overcome:

  1. Confidence: Teachers don’t usually have a tech background and so can see it as risky and unfamiliar. Professional development for an area that is new and technical can be hard to access.

  2. Content: Technology is constantly changing. Curriculum can, therefore, become quickly outdated.

  3. Community: Teachers don’t have a community of practice or peers, with a core group of trained practitioners, to learn from and share ideas.

Following this research, we worked with thousands of students and instructors for over 34,000 hours to develop a solution that inspires the next generation of problem-solvers and creative thinkers. As a result, we equip schools with resources to integrate technology into all subjects:

  1. An online teaching environment that gives teachers confidence by putting them in control of the learning experience.

  2. Real world relevant curriculum that can be brought into every subject.

  3. Professional development that enables every teacher to integrate technology into their classroom.

Our new year resolves to bring this solution and create the community in and amongst more schools globally to help break the disconnect. Teachers know that technology education is vital. We need to empower them and support them with the right tools to be in a position to deliver.

Bring Digital Skills into Your Classrooms All Year Round

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The Hour of Code is a great way to introduce coding and digital skills to your students. As they learn what they can create and build, they will likely want to do more. With this in mind, providing opportunities to acquire digital skills throughout the school year will help them.

So, how can you incorporate digital skills and coding into the classroom more regularly?

Here are three ideas that can be used in your classroom immediately:  

1. Encourage your students to “go digital” to complete their schoolwork and projects. They might create a website or a video presentation using Flipgrid instead of a poster. With digital tools, students can develop skills while also preparing for future jobs.

2. Encourage students to consider how technology relates to many subjects. Students must understand how technology is used to solve real-world problems. Prompt their thinking with questions. Doing biology? Ask about medical technologies. Art classes? Explore digital artists. That said, students should begin applying digital abilities to real-world situations as soon as possible.

3. Set up specific time for digital activities in your classroom. This could be weekly or monthly but make the time!

a.) You could use the slot for a combination of mini on-screen and unplugged activities throughout the semester.

b.) You could set your students a challenge that they can work on across the semester as a passion project.

Whatever format you choose, give students the opportunity to be creative and explore the many ways technology can be used by introducing them to a range of different resources.

At BSD we advocate for the use of real world technology projects in every classroom throughout the school year. We believe that regular exposure to technology in a range of different contexts is the best way to prepare students for using technology in their futures and to understand how to apply it in connection with their interests.

To see what BSD can do for you, contact us here.

BSD Education (Build Something Different) partners with educators to bring technology education into classrooms through our programs of learning, online learning platform and professional development training.

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